A Bad Nightmare: As Country Mourns Newtown, Gunman Open Fires On San Antonio Movie Theater

As the country mourns the tragic deaths of 20 children and six adults in Newtown, Connecticut, a gunman in San Antonio brings back nightmares of another mass shooting. The Mayan 14 Theaters in Texas erupted in gunfire late on the night of December 16th, wounding at least two people, and reminding everyone that the Aurora, Colorado murders were not that long ago.

Very little information has been released about this latest violent attack. So far, it looks like a lone gunman began his spree at a nearby China Garden, then continued to the movie theater and kept shooting. On his way, police say that the suspect shot at a marked police car. Detective Louis Antu explains, “He knows he was shooting at an officer so that’s (an) automatic (charge of) attempted capital murder.”

Once he reached the theater, the suspect was brought down by an off-duty Sheriff’s officer. “She took all appropriate action to keep everyone safe in the movie theater,” Antu said.

This brave officer saved dozens of people who were in the movie theater and who might have become the shooter’s next targets. She kept the victim total blessedly low. Now, everyone’s prayers can be with the two people wounded, in hopes that they make full recoveries from their injuries.

It is impossible to hear this story without immediate flashbacks to July, when James Holmes walked in to the midnight premiere of The Dark Knight Rises, threw tear gas into the crowd and then open-fired. He killed 12 and wounded 58 people. In the wake of that shooting, movie theaters increased their security. Multiple copycats were foiled in their attempts to recreate the killings.

This shooting comes as the country is still grieving over the horror inflicted on a school in Newtown, Connecticut last Friday. The Mommyish office is still weeping over the details of this tragedy. Unfortunately, there are others who see these shootings as inspiration to put their own troubled thoughts into action.

While there are no details about the guns used in this latest attack, it can only add fuel to the fire that’s growing for gun control. Many are seeing these tragedies as proof that our country needs to reauthorize the lapsed assault weapons ban. If this turns out to be another assault weapon or extended magazine used in this shooting, it can only strengthen the case against such extreme weapons.